Awakening, Hiei found that his arms were cuffed and chained high above his head, his shirt had been removed and only his pants and the bandages upon his Black Dragon remained. His feet were chained to the floor, and he was within a large, dark, empty room. The only thing that could be seen were thousands of pairs of yellow eyes.
All narrowed and small hisses could be heard. Sliding forth from the darkness, were the owners of the eyes. They turned out to be snakes. The whole room was crawling with them, but only a few slid forth. Only the largest ones that had a pattern of red diamonds and black circles. Sliding their way towards Hiei, they climbed up his legs and wrapped themselves around him.
Most hissed in his ears and many made sudden movements to sink their fangs within his bare skin. Hiei closed his eyes, showing no fright at all towards the snakes and making no movements. He allowed them to crawl upon his body; he knew eventually they would leave him alone.
A bit of light flooded in from the creaking door, and Karasu's outline could be seen shadowed by the light. "Enjoying the scenery, Hiei?"
Choosing not to answer, the Youkai ignored Karasu. His eyes remained shut. The snakes' tongues flicked in and out as they examined Hiei. Then smelt their Master's scent and they all turned to look at him.
"Don't worry, you won't be waiting much longer. Our guest will be arriving very soon..."
This caused Hiei to jerk his head up and the snakes coiled around his neck hissed angrily. "What?!"
"That's right..." Karasu nodded and smirked. "Dear, dear Kurama will be joining you very shortly."
"You bastard..."
Turning upon his heel, Karasu strode out of the room. "Be patient, Hiei... Patient."
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Kurama's hand ran through the thin long leaves of the bamboo. He grabbed a branch extending from the round stem and picked it off. Placing it upon his other hands palm, it rested there with a variety of seeds. Closing his hand into a fist around the plant items, he hid them within the mass of his hair, right behind his right ear.
Looking to the slowly rising moon, Kurama frowned.
"It's time."
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From having to watch Shoiri for a long time, Yukina had fallen asleep in the chair next to the couch.
Kuwabara was still awake, staring out of the window.
"Kurama what the hell are you doing? Why didn't you tell anyone about this shit?"
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Slowly, Kurama approached the Konai shrine. Things were not as he had expected them to be and he became very cautious.
"Karasu! I've come alone, as told. Show yourself!"
There was no answer. The bushes and trees rustled with a small breeze and crickets chirped, but that was it.
"Craaw!" Yomi and Muruko perched upon the tree beside Kurama. Both cocked their head and flew into the shrine beckoning Kurama to follow them.
After a pause, he did. Only the burning candles held dim light within the building; Kurama narrowed his eyes trying to see through the darkness.
"Kurama..." The weakened voice came from the pitch black.
The Youko gasped. "Hiei?!"
Suddenly an array of lights turned themselves on and Hiei could be seen still chained. His body was swollen and bruised. When the lights had flashed on, the snakes slithered away all hissing. One remained although; a great adder wrapped around Hiei's neck.
Regretting his earlier words, Kurama stared at Hiei and the large snake. His eyes locked with that of the adder and he stared. Stared deeply within its cold, yellow eyes. Trying to communicate with his eyesight, Kurama told the adder to go away.
After hissing again, the coils loosened their grip and it made its way back into the hole in the wall. Immediately, Kurama ran to Hiei's side and broke the chains that bound him. The Youkai collapsed and Kurama caught him, laying him down, back resting on the wall.
"Hiei, what happened to you?!"
"I...went looking...for you..." The answer came unusually quiet, even for Hiei.
"No! Don't you dare die on me!" Kurama's lip quivered and his fingers lightly ran over two fang marks upon Hiei's neck. It seemed, the adder had bitten Hiei before he arrived.
"Die? I'm...not...going...anywhere..." Hiei tried to smirk.
"The fox and the dragon united again..."
